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Chalew’s family moved from Baltimore to New Orleans when she was 12, so “I can’t claim to be a native but I definitely consider myself to be ‘from’ New Orleans.” She describes her hometown as “an incredibly beautiful city, both architecturally and because of the lush tropical landscape that envelops the built environment. People living in New Orleans really value arts and culture, and there is a spirit of creativity endemic to this place. However, this is also a city plagued by crumbling infrastructure, poverty, and violent crime. New Orleans, like America as a whole, is still haunted by the legacies of colonization and enslavement which endure through structural racism that leaves a lot of people, mostly Black, living precariously, struggling to get by. Our city is also perched on the bleeding edge of climate change; as our coast erodes, mostly because of interventions by the oil and gas industry, this same industry continues to extract and burn fossil fuels, which raises sea levels and strengthens the hurricanes that barrel through the Gulf of Mexico each year.” Still, she says, this state of vulnerability feeds the culture. “New Orleanians live in the moment and prioritize celebration and joy because we know how quickly everything can change. As such, this city is both an incredibly inspiring but also complicated and nuanced environment for creatives.”

ARTISTS CHALEW ADMIRES: Ceramist and educator MaPó Kinnord, mixed-media artist John W. Taylor, master weaver Janie Verret Luster, bousillage restorer and artist Dale Pierrottie, and beader and Mardi Gras Indian suit maker Big Chief Demond Melancon of the Young Seminole Hunters.

This article was made possible with support from the Windgate Charitable Foundation.